


don't let it break your heart

by cocoaandcupcakes



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Alec Hardy Needs A Hug, Alec Hardy Whump, Alec Hardy is a wheelchair user, Alec Hardy is an amputee, Angst, Disabled Character, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Sandbrook (Broadchurch)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23304739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cocoaandcupcakes/pseuds/cocoaandcupcakes
Summary: As Hardy begins to lose consciousness, he thinks of Pippa and how her life was ended so soon by someone so cruel.  The last thought he has before his head hits the ground isWhat sort of person leaves a child like that?*A Broadchurch AU where the end of a marriage was not the only consequence of Sandbrook.
Relationships: Alec Hardy & Daisy Hardy, Alec Hardy & Ellie Miller
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	don't let it break your heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gozenichiji](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gozenichiji/gifts).



Oh, whatever tears you apart  
Don't let it break your heart  
-  
Louis Tomlinson, Don't Let It Break Your Heart

  
*

On the bank of the river, Alec Hardy pays no mind to the rain pouring down around him. He lets the water drip down his face and soak through his clothes, his hair. He’s looking ahead, his attention focused solely on the body lying face down in the river.

Pippa Gillespie’s body.

Hardy rushes into the water, slipping on the grass as he goes. He begins to swim toward Pippa’s body, but it’s too deep, and suddenly his head goes beneath the surface. All he sees is darkness. All he hears is the muted rush of water. He’s gasping for air, trying desperately to swim back toward the light of day. Eventually, Hardy is able to free himself and lift Pippa’s body to his chest. As he trudges through the water, he is keenly aware of the weight of the body in his arms and the water dripping off of it onto his own.

When he reaches the bank, he carefully lays Pippa’s body on the ground. He sits down, pulls out his mobile in order to call the station and inform them of the body. The adrenaline of the moment has worn off and as Hardy waits for his colleagues to arrive, he becomes aware of just how cold he is. Shivers wrack his body. He makes a futile effort to warm himself by pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees. His breath is slow and shallow, his vision blurred. As Hardy begins to lose consciousness, he thinks of Pippa and how her life was ended so soon by someone so cruel. The last thought he has before his head hits the ground is _What sort of person leaves a child like that?_

*

Hardy wakes slowly, disoriented. Above him, he sees fluorescent lights and many unfamiliar faces. The mouths on the faces are moving, but he can’t understand what they’re saying, despite the urgency he can sense. Are they all talking about him? He’s lying down in a bed and the people seem to be moving him quickly down a hallway. He still doesn’t know where he is or what happened. The last thing he remembers is being at the river and finding Pippa’s body.

_Pippa._

He needs to find out what happened to Pippa. Where her body was taken after he found her. He groans and tries to speak, but all that comes out are unintelligible words. He tries again, but nothing works. One of the people above him notices his attempt at speech and says, “You’re in hospital, Mr. Hardy. Everything’s alright. We’re going to take care of you.” Her words of comfort don’t help. Hardy continues to panic. He just wants to know what happened to him. What happened to Pippa. A sudden thought occurs to him. Tess and Daisy. Do they know what happened to him? As he has this thought, his vision starts to blur again, and he just wants to rest. He closes his eyes against the light, succumbing to the desire for sleep.

*

When Hardy wakes again, the first person he sees is Tess. She’s sitting in a chair near the bed looking at her mobile. Upon sensing movement, she looks up suddenly at him. “Good to see you awake. The doctors weren’t sure exactly when you’d wake up.”

“What am I doing here?” he asks. Tess sighs and hesitates.

“God’s sake Tess, just tell me,” he rushes out.

She takes a deep breath and begins. “When we arrived on the scene at the river, you had passed out next to Pippa Gillespie’s body. You were breathing, but unresponsive. The paramedics were called and once they arrived, they said it was most likely hypothermia.”

 _Hypothermia. From the river._ It hadn’t felt cold at the time but he’s starting to recall the aftermath of waiting next to Pippa’s body, fingers fumbling to unlock his mobile and yeah, - Tess’s explanation of hypothermia fits the bill. Alec begins to process, piece by piece. The memories are fragmented but Tess is filling in the blanks.

“You were rushed to hospital, but by the time they arrived, there wasn’t anything they could do to restore circulation in your right leg.” Strange. Alec can see her sitting there. Tess hasn’t moved, but her voice is distant in ways he cannot comprehend.

Alec blinks, and in one second he’s back on that riverbank, sitting next to Pippa’s body.

 _Young, so young_ – lying face-down in the river with bare feet, wearing her gray patterned pajamas, her hair fanned out across the water.

“You had been exposed to the cold weather for over an hour and the only option was to operate and amputate your right leg from the knee down.”

Amputate. _The loss of circulation results in cellular death._

The way Pippa’s body lay still in the water. The signs of water-rot he saw when he lifted her and the way her arms hung limply as he carried her.

He blinks, again, back in his hospital bed. Tess is staring at him expectantly, eyes glazed with worry. What was the last thing she’d said? Unconscious, hypothermia…amputation. At this last part, Hardy looks at the end of the bed. He stares in silence, unsure what to say, what to think about the physical part of him that’s missing. Finally, he settles on the only thing that makes sense to him in the moment. “Does Daisy know what happened?”

“Yes. She’s been so worried. Cried for hours and didn’t want to leave your side after I told her the first day, but I made her go home to eat and sleep. She’s come by every day since, waiting impatiently for you to wake up. My parents have been staying with her whenever I’ve been here.” Hardy pictures Daisy’s face filled with grief and sadness, tears streaming down her face and all he wants to do is to hug his little girl and tell her that everything is going to be alright.

“How long have I been here?”

“Four days. The operation was Thursday. It’s Sunday afternoon now.”

“I want to see Daisy. Can you bring her by later?”

“We’ll come by after dinner.”

“Good, good.” Hardy breathes out. With the knowledge that he’ll see Daisy later, he asks the next question that comes to mind. “What about the case? What do we tell the families?”

Tess looks at him incredulously and says, “You’re in no condition to work. We’ll have to tell them that you had a medical emergency and require an extended absence from work for recovery. Another Detective Inspector can take over in your stead for the duration of the case.”

Hardy doesn’t know how to make her understand why it’s so important that he be the person to lead the case, but he tries. “I don’t care how long recovery takes or what you’ll have to tell the families, but I need to lead this case, Tess. For Pippa and Lisa. For their families.” What goes unspoken in his plea is that it’s for Daisy as well. Tess can sense this, but it does nothing to sway her opinion.

“The answer is no,” she says firmly. Her tone brooks no argument. Hardy lets it go for the moment. He sighs and closes his eyes, resting his head on the pillow behind him. Tess, sensing Hardy’s exhaustion, stands and says, “I’ll let you get some rest. I’ll see you in a few hours with Daisy.”

Hardy nods, but says nothing, his exhaustion beginning to get the better of him. The last thing he sees before he drifts off to sleep is Tess leaving his hospital room and shutting the door behind her, leaving Hardy all alone.

**Author's Note:**

> So. That Happened. So excited that this fic is finally seeing the light of day.
> 
> I owe my thanks to Miles for giving me the inspiration to write this when he was throwing around ideas one day about what it would be like if Hardy became a wheelchair user during the events of Sandbrook. I then came up with headcanons about Hardy being a wheelchair user and posted them in the sad broadchurch gang. Thanks, y’all for listening to my ideas and being so supportive. 
> 
> Nico, this is for you. I hope it fulfills all of your Hardy angst and whump needs.
> 
> Thank you to Bee for being my beta even though all you know of Broadchurch is what I’ve told you and what I post on Twitter. You have helped improve my writing so much already and I can't wait to see how things progress as we go along. Here’s to another great fic writing journey together.
> 
> ANYWAY.
> 
> I don’t have a set posting schedule for this, but I will try to get chapters up ASAP. You can follow me on Twitter at @masters_crowley. I scream about Broadchurch and a whole bunch of other things if you’re interested.
> 
> See y’all soon,
> 
> CJ <3


End file.
